1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a form feed device incorporating means for locking a form feed therein against movement transverse to the feed direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Form feeds are employed, for example, in accounting machines in the manufacturing industry and in copying machines. With these feeds the sheet material, which is processed or furnished with information, is fed through a particular apparatus. It is necessary that the particular form feed be aligned accurately in the feed direction in order to ensure tilt-free guidance of the sheet material.
In general, it is desirable that, in the case of feed devices for sheet material, sheet sizes which are as large as possible can be conveyed while the space taken up by the feed devices is as small as possible. In accounting machines there is frequently the additional requirement that several forms be fed alongside one another, for which purpose several form feeds are then arranged so that they can be moved transversely to the feed direction on a guide. The form feeds are then usually constructed in such a way that they act on the edge of the particular forms to be conveyed, for which purpose the so-called Leporello principle may be employed. The forms can be provided with lateral perforations in which conveyor belts with pin feeds engage by means of pin elements, in order to thus further increase the feed reliability.
In the case of form feeds which can be moved transversely to the feed direction, there is a problem in locking the particular feed after adjustment to the size of the sheet material to be conveyed, such that it reliably retains a preset position, in order to ensure trouble-free feeding of the sheet material. The locking of the form feeds has hitherto been effected by means of stop levers or clamp levers or by means of clamping screws, which are arranged laterally on the particular feed and with which the feed can be fixed on a guide arranged in the direction of movement. These locking elements however can be complex and require additional space at the side of the feed which, for example, makes it impossible to arrange two form feeds immediately adjacent to one another, that is to say to move two feeds close against one another.
We have now devised a locking arrangement which is relatively simple and which does not require any space outside the form feed, so that the feed fitted with the device can be directly against a housing wall or against a neighboring form feed.